Steel hulls

Steel ships first began to be built in the shipyards of the Nervion estuary in Biscay at the end of the nineteenth century. The industry has lasted down to the present, specialising in the construction of large merchant vessels. At the end of the second decade of the twentieth century, some Gipuzkoan shipyards began to build steel hulls at Zumaia and Pasaia, especially for the fishing fleet. The experience acquired by many small workshops in the repair and installation of steam engines was decisive in facing up to the challenge of building steel ships. Up to the Civil War, the construction of timber ships continued alongside the new steel ones; however, a scarcity of raw materials in the post-war period led to a return to traditional timber shipbuilding for fishing vessels. In Gipuzkoa, the shipyards at Pasaia and Zumaia continue to build and repair steel ships to this day, although business has been hit by uncertainty in the industry.

The same cod boat as a gunboat, the Gipuzkoa. © José Lopez

Mistral, a cod boat owned by the Pysbe company from Pasaia, built in 1929. The same cod boat, used as a trawler was gunned up and used in the Basque auxiliary navy during the Civil War, when she was renamed the Gipuzkoa. © José Lopez

Merchant vessel “Lolita Artaza”, built at the end of the nineteenth century in England and acquired by the Artaza shipping company from Pasaia. © José Lopez

Welding.This process consists of smelting two metal pieces together. Welding was practiced in Basques shipyards as early as the 1920s, although it took some time to be more widely used; the technical difficulties of the procedure were overcome in the following decades. By the mid twentieth century welding had completely replaced riveting; as well as being quieter, the technique is faster, cheaper and gives lighter joins. © José Lopez

Initially, steel ships were built using overlapping steel plates secured to each other by means of rivets. A rivet is a metal pin which is inserted into holes previously made in the two parts to be joined. While one operator presses down on the head of the rivet, his companion on the opposite side opens out the other end. The rivet, when it cools, contracts, pressing the plates even tighter together. Initially, rivets were made by hand, using a mallet. Later hydraulic percussion, pneumatic and steam hammers were used. Riveting is a particularly noisy process and caused hearing problems among workers and inconvenience for neighbouring areas. © José Lopez

Dredger Jaizkibel. The first steel ships were built using the technique of riveting, already widely employed in the manufacture of steam engines. The dredger Jaizkibel, built at the Euskalduna shipyard in Bilbao in 1933, was listed as a Monument of Cultural Interest by the Basque Government's Heritage Council in 1992. It is the only Basque-built ship using rivets still extant in Gipuzkoa. It was used for dredging the port of Pasaia until 1984. © José Lopez

The steamship Rezola, a cargo ship owned by the cement manufacturer, Añorga. In the 1950s, it could be seen moored in the port at San Sebastian. © José Lopez